Clippers Spirit Spotlight: Anasheh

Clippers.com
September 20, 2011

There’s an old African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

The city of Los Angeles is a little more concrete jungle than village – a little more booming population than tight-knit community. The raw numbers alone work against those in greatest need of help in a city like this. It’s easier to closely care and be attentive to the needs of one person in a group of ten than it is for that same person in a group of ten million.

Los Angeles, for all its wonderful traits, is beautiful for few and harrowing for many.

Spirit Dance Team member Anasheh knows she is one of the lucky ones. Raised in Los Angeles, Anasheh selflessly realized at an early age that the opportunities and family she was fortunate to have were largely uncommon for those in her greater community.

“I knew from high school that I wanted to do something where I was helping other people,” Anasheh said. “It didn’t matter in what way – I just wanted to help people.”

And so Anasheh set off to nearby USC for college, where she stayed true to her goal. She followed her love for dancing, performing as a USC Song Girl, but also worked in the classroom to obtain her Master’s Degree in Social Work.

Still living in Los Angeles, Anasheh spends her days working at her long-held dream – to help others.

“My profession right now is a mental health therapist,” Anasheh said. “I’m based out of a high school in South L.A. and I meet with kids during the day for individual therapy. I work with kids who have different diagnosis like depression, social anxiety disorder, anxiety, and other things like that.”

With numerous factors working against those children, Anasheh acknowledges it is not an easy occupation.

“We’re working in the inner-city,” Anasheh said. “The kids are working through poverty, different kinds of abuse, lack of parenting, lack of education. They’re working with so many different layers of trauma. It’s very, very challenging.

“Most of my students have experienced some sort of loss, whether it’s a cousin, a sister or brother, to gang violence or other violence – that’s really prevalent in that neighborhood. I work a lot with grief and loss.”

While Anasheh helps the children work through their severe issues, the task remains daunting. But she is not the type of person who lets obstacles stop her from reaching her goal.

“Recently I was inspired to help out by taking a different approach,” Anasheh said. “It was back to school time, so I thought about how I could help the students experience something special. I thought, ‘What’s better than a brand new pair of shoes to a 14-year-old in high school?’ I wanted them to feel confident about themselves walking into school on the very first day.”

So Anasheh decided to call on the same community that helped raise her for backup.

“I reached out to all my family, friends and fellow team members through Facebook and e-mail and asked them for any donations they could offer,” Anasheh said.

“Luckily, I got such a great response from everyone. Everybody chipped in. I got gift cards, money, shoes. I had literally four trunks full of shoes. I took the shoes into the school last week, but didn’t give all of them at once. The shoes I brought disappeared in about 13 seconds. They were all so happy. Their faces were beaming. I don’t think they ever had the opportunity to have a brand new pair of shoes.”

For Anasheh, her reward is simply the satisfaction of giving back.

“Every day I go in, I come out feeling good about having some sort of effect on somebody’s life…even if it’s in the most simple of ways,” Anasheh said. “It’s definitely the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

Meanwhile, Anasheh’s dancing career has taken off in her second year with the Clippers Spirit Dance Team. She has performed and taught at multiple places, including her Alma Mater, USC. Her future in dance is incredibly bright.

But Anasheh predictably has her priorities in line.

“I keep my jobs separate,” Anasheh said. “This [Spirit team] is my part-time job. This is my release — this is where I go to do my second passion, which is dance.”

When Anasheh talks about the work she is doing, her passion is easy to see. She chokes up multiple times when speaking about her students and genuinely smiles thinking of the kids she helps.

It is pretty easy to gather that her kids love her, too, probably even a little bit more after they went to a Clippers game last year.

“I didn’t know any of the kids knew, but they came to a Clipper game way up in the upper bowl last year and they recognized me for sure,” Anasheh said. “Some of the students called me out the next day and said ‘Oh Miss Anasheh, we saw you dancing!’ We didn’t know you could dance like that!’ They’re cool though, they liked it.”

Although Anasheh keeps her jobs separate, the Spirit Dance Team helps her with her first passion as well as her love for dance.

“We [the Spirit Team] do a lot of fundraising and a lot of charity work,” Anasheh said. “That’s actually one of the really great parts about this whole organization – we definitely give back to the community. I know that’s a huge part of my life so I really appreciate that they find it important too.”

While sparkling on the dance floor, Anasheh remains caring, selfless and appreciative. It’s safe to say her village did a pretty good job of raising her. Now, she’s looking to return the favor.

“Right now I know this is what I need to be doing,” Anasheh said. “It just feels right. This is where I need to be.”